Bonney1

By Carie J. Delmar
OperaOnline.us

What is a master class? In essence, it is just that – a class given by a master. And on the last Friday in March, it was renowned soprano Barbara Bonney who was the wise experienced sage offering her knowledge to the six young opera singers who were seeking her guidance, a little timidly albeit, probably because the class was in front of an audience. Pretty intimidating one might think. Not in front of “this” audience of old softies though.They were there to root for the young performers and to watch them grow.

The event was sponsored by the Opera League of Los Angeles, the primary volunteer organization for Los Angeles Opera, whose members do everything from serving dress rehearsal dinners to manning the opera shop and boutique in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. This was an educational event for them, one which would help them understand the singing process, but would also help the participants as well – most of them resident artists with Los Angeles Opera who have completed their university and/or conservatory training, show promise, and are covering and performing smaller roles with L.A. Opera.

“I love master classes,” tenor Peter Nathan Foltz, 28, told OperaOnline.us before the event. “There’s something about combining the energy of a live performance with the opportunity to improve that is sort of an interesting synthesis of energy – the fact that it’s a sort of lesson, but at the same time, you have that same sort of rush that you get from doing a live performance.”

Foltz was playing Don Curzio in Los Angeles Opera’s production of “Le Nozze di Figaro” at the time. “The other thing about it that I’ve always enjoyed is the fact that a lot of times audiences aren’t singers and don’t know what it’s like to have to learn to sing,” he continued. “They sort of assume that everyone is either born with the ability or not, and they don’t know what it’s like to be given advice on this topic. It’s interesting to be able to give them that opportunity. I always learn a lot at master classes, and I always walk away with a better product and sometimes an entirely new vision of the piece.”

After singing Tamino’s “Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön” from Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte,” Bonney told Foltz that he sang the aria up there with the best of them – his voice had a lovely lyrical quality to it. When she asked for audience comments – something that is rarely done at master classes – one person said something about the way the tenor held his hands; another mentioned that every time he sang a higher note, he sort of raised himself onto his toes. At first it seemed as if Bonney didn’t want to criticize him but was throwing the responsibility onto the audience instead. Yet a few moments later, that proved to be a false assumption. She was simply drawing the audience in so that the master class could be a class for them as well as for all of the participants.

Next Foltz sang an art song, a Mozart Lied: “Abendempfindung,” a bittersweet reflection of someone who looks toward the end of life. Here Bonney began to change Foltz’s approach and vision. Less comfortable with the art song than the aria, Bonney told him to concentrate on the words and sing to a particular person in the audience. “When the energy comes back, you’re less nervous,” she explained. She spoke about the ability of singers in operas to hide behind their characters and costumes, etc. But in Lieder, the singer is more vulnerable. “Be who you are and share your message. You really are your own person with Lieder,” she said.

Although Foltz received more-or-less what he had expected from the master class, there were surprises in store for some of the others.

“Usually in public master classes, they [the artists giving the classes] go into performance, style and language because technique is a personal thing and it’s a hard thing to change in a 20-minute time slot. I think it’s kind of fruitless [to go into technique] in a master class situation,” baritone Andrew Wilkowske, 30, told OperaOnline.us a few days before the master class. He said that in a private master class, the person giving the class can be more candid because there isn’t an audience watching. “The public master class is sort of an entity unto itself. It’s just as much a performance for the audience as it is a coaching,” he said. “The work that takes place between clinician

But Bonney apparently was not of the same opinion. She “did” go into technique and she “did” give something to Wilkowske to take home with him. After he sang “Vedrò mentr’io sospiro,” the Count’s aria from “Le Nozze di Figaro,” the role which he was covering for L.A. Opera, she worked with him to open up his sound and “create a little more bloom,” as she described it. She spoke of what he was doing with his jaw and tongue, talked of using more head voice, and spoke of his upper molars and making space. Greek to the average audience member, but when he sang part of the aria once again – Ah! What a difference the few minutes had made.

Throughout the master class, Bonney’s focus was on technique and creating a “ping,” as she described it, so that the young singers would not overburden their voices and so that their voices would project over the crescendos of any orchestra.

Jessica Swink walked onto the stage and hugged Ms. Bonney since the two were colleagues. Swink, 26, was covering Susanna and portraying Barbarina in L.A. Opera’s “Le Nozze di Figaro.” Bonney was singing Susanna. So Swink proceeded to perform “Ach, ich fühl’s,” Pamina’s aria from “Die Zauberflöte.” Her soprano soared effortlessly through the hall with an almost aching beauty. After all, Pamina was expressing how heartbroken she was when Tamino wouldn’t speak to her. Swink’s stance was straight and secure, and her voice sparkled like the facets of a diamond. Likewise, bass Jinyoung Jang, who was covering Dr. Bartolo, gave a dynamic performance of “La vendetta,” dramatically singing and acting out his desire to settle his score with Figaro. Both displayed major talent and polish.

Barbara Bonney is an internationally-acclaimed opera star and recitalist who sings regularly at the Met, the Wiener Staatsoper, the Royal Opera in Covent Garden, the Salzburg Festival and with most of the major orchestras throughout the world. She certainly doesn’t have to give master classes. She gives them because she wants to.
One of her main goals is to help young university and conservatory-trained singers grow, as she did the end of March in Los Angeles. She is also on a mission to expand the classical music listener base, to secure the longevity of classical music for future generations. Toward that end, she prefers to give her master classes in front of an audience rather than in the confines of a conservatory room.
“I have given classes without an audience but do not find them to be as useful,” she told OperaOnline.us a few hours before her master class in L.A. “I prefer giving classes in front of an audience because that is ultimately the environment in which these young singers will be performing. It is also very important to give information to the audience, so that they have a better understanding of what they are listening to. I focus on whatever aspect the singer might need in order to improve. There is not so much a method to my classes or my approach to technique as simply a desire to help the student on their way to vocal discovery and improvement.”
Bonney started teaching in Tanglewood about 12 years ago. Since then, she has given classes at Juilliard, the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Wien and the Royal Academy of Music in London, just to name a few. She has taught in San Francisco, Cleveland, Amsterdam, Australia and Japan.
“Teaching has become an integral element in my own development as a singer and gives me the greatest sense of satisfaction knowing that I can help other singers by passing on the information I have gathered throughout my career, including the myriad mistakes I have made,” she said.

But their wise experienced sage was on the “ping” brigade. After all, since Jussi Björling had it, it couldn’t be such a bad thing to have. So Bonney proceeded to downsize Jang’s Bartolo, and had him sing parts of the aria with only the word, “meow,” a way of lightening the tone and bringing it more forward into the mask. Similarly, she had Swink sing parts of her aria on the vowel “ee” and then on “Nya.” “Get skinnier upwards,” Bonney said, explaining to Swink that she was singing the Mozart aria too heavily. She used phrases like: “keep it light”; “keep open”; “get more angular”; and “keep it as fresh and forward as you can.” “Sing it with the voice you had 10 years ago,” she told Swink, who looked a little perplexed but did as she was directed while placing her left and right hands on either side of her lower back to maintain support. Such a jolt could cause any singer to get a little off balanced. Was this supposed to be happening in front of an audience? Maybe it was really a class after all. But did they sound better? Some of the audience members weren’t quite sure judging from their comments. Maybe it wasn’t about how the singers sounded at that particular moment but rather about solidifying their technique. Maybe it was about preserving their voices. They didn’t ask any questions. Oh, well! They would probably discuss what had happened with their teachers later on.

On the other hand, Gregorio González didn’t have any doubts. He realized from the moment he stepped on the stage of the Zipper Concert Hall that he needed to work on his “ping.” A graduate of L.A. Opera’s Resident Artist Program, he was portraying Antonio in “Le Nozze di Figaro” for the final time. Last June, the young baritone was advised to become a tenor by no less than Plácido Domingo, he said. It all started during a master class given by Frederica von Stade. “After I sang my aria [as Enrico from ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’], she told me, ‘I think this might be a bit too early for you to sing,’” González, 32, told OperaOnline.us before the Bonney master class. “She [Frederica von Stade] was concerned about my age and the age of my sound compared to the normal age that people sing the role.